Halon Handling

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The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a
regulation on March 5, 1998, that concerns the handling
and disposal of halon and halon-containing equipment (63
FR 11084). Specifically, this rule covers
Halon 1211, Halon
1301, and Halon 2402. The rule bans the manufacture of
blends of these halons (i.e., blends containing two or
more halons); and establishes certain provisions for
training of technicians who handle halons and
halon-containing equipment, releases of halons from
halon-containing equipment during testing, maintenance,
and other activities, and disposal of halons and
halon-containing equipment. This rule became effective on April 6,
1998.

Ban on Halon Blends

A halon blend is any mixture or combination of
substances that contains two or more halons (i.e., Halon
1211, Halon 1301, or Halon 2402). As of the effective
date, it is unlawful to newly manufacture any halon
blend. Existing stores of halon blends are not affected
by the ban. An exemption is provided for halon blends
manufactured solely for the purpose of aviation fire
protection, provided that blends produced under this
exemption are recycled to meet the relevant industry
purity standards for each individual halon.

Intentional Releases

This rule also prohibits venting of halons during
testing, maintaining, servicing, repairing, or disposing
of halon-containing equipment, or during the use of such
equipment for technician training. For health, safety,
environmental, and other considerations, several limited
exemptions have been provided for the following types of
releases:

De minimis releases associated with good faith
efforts to recycle or recover halon. For example,
release of residual halon contained in fully discharged
total flooding fire extinguishing systems is considered
a de minimis release; see Preamble for discussion of
other releases considered de minimis.

Release of halons during testing of fire
extinguishing systems or equipment is exempted
only if the following four criteria are met: (a)
systems or equipment employing suitable alternative
agents are not available, (b) system or equipment
testing requiring release of agent is essential to
demonstrate system or equipment functionality, (c)
failure of the system would pose great risk to human
safety or the environment,
and (d) a simulant agent cannot be used for the
testing purposes.

Research and development (R&D) for halon
alternatives, and analytical determination of halon
purity.

Releases associated with qualification and
development testing during design and development of
halon-containing systems and equipment
only when (a) such tests are essential to demonstrate
functionality, and (b) a suitable simulant agent can
not be used for the testing purposes.

Halon releases that occur as a result of owner failure
to maintain halon-containing equipment to relevant
industry standards are also prohibited.

However, this prohibition does not apply to emergency
releases of halons for legitimate fire extinguishing,
explosion inertion, or other emergency applications for
which the systems or equipment were designed.

Technician Training

This rule also requires that technician training
relevant to halon emissions be provided. Technicians
hired on or before April 6, 1998 must be trained by
September 1, 1998; technicians hired after April 5, 1998,
shall be trained within 30 days of hiring, or by
September 1, 1998, whichever is later. In the Preamble to
the rule, EPA pointed to several industry publications
containing standard service practice guidelines and other
information relevant to the development of training
programs. These include
NFPA,
ISO, and ASTM publications; facilities may find these
documents, or the most recent and relevant versions of
these documents, helpful during the development of
training programs and materials. Facilities are not
limited to the use of the above-mentioned documents as
guidance, however.

Proper Disposal

This rule establishes that halon-containing equipment
must be properly disposed of at the end of its useful
life. Proper disposal means only sending such equipment
for halon recovery or recycling by a facility (e.g., a
manufacturer, a fire equipment dealer, a recycler, or an
in-house recovery or recycling operation) operating in
accordance with NFPA 10 and NFPA 12A standards. Ancillary
system devices such as electrical components that are not
necessary to the safe and secure containment of the halon
are not subject to this provision. In addition, equipment
containing only de minimis quantities of halon is not
subject to this requirement.

Furthermore, the halon itself must be properly
disposed of. Proper disposal means
only halon recycling by a facility operating in
accordance with NFPA 10 and NFPA 12A or destruction using
one of several controlled processes identified in the
regulation (see regulatory text for specific destruction
options named).

Regulations and Federal Register Notices

Import of Aircraft Halon-1301 Fire Extinguishing Vessels

This final rulemaking is amending the existing import petition process to
allow companies that service fire extinguishing aircraft bottles that contain
Halon-1301, an ozone depleting substance, to import such bottles for routine
hydrostatic testing without obtaining permission from EPA prior to import.
This action will facilitate the timely maintenance of integral components of
on-board fire suppression systems and will prevent unnecessary emissions of
a highly ozone depleting chemical by detecting and repairing vessel leaks.